[quote]unbending wrote:
Everyone plays an important role. Except maybe for the sleazy politicians that try and control.[/quote]
Hey, that rhymed!
I think Army Rangers are the best, all the rest, it’s no contest! 
I was in the Army BTW. But not a Ranger. I have known a lot of Rangers though, and they are a very ‘unique’ breed.
The Marines are part of the Navy (sorry Marines). The Marines operate as Naval infantry. They are trained to attack objectives by amphibious landings. They are a smaller force then the Army. They also provide secrity on some surface vessels. A legendary tradition of toughness on the battlefield. Marines provide their own Close Air Support, Armor and artillery and don’t expect or want that support from others.
Actually the Marines are their own branch of the military. They fall under the department of the Navy and the two branches often operate together, however to call them the “Naval infantry” would be incorrect, especially since not all Marines are grunts (yes I know every Marine is a rifleman first).
Wikipedia has some good information on the different fields.
I like how many different schools the Combat Controllers have… 3 Army Schools, 1 Navy school and 5 AF schools. Those guys are pretty impressive.
Combat Control:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_Force_Combat_Control
Delta Force:
Marine Force Recon:
Navy Seals:
ParaRescue:
Rangers:
[quote]skaz05 wrote:
unbending wrote:
Everyone plays an important role. Except maybe for the sleazy politicians that try and control.
Hey, that rhymed!
I think Army Rangers are the best, all the rest, it’s no contest!
I was in the Army BTW. But not a Ranger. I have known a lot of Rangers though, and they are a very ‘unique’ breed. [/quote]
lol
[quote]skaz05 wrote:
unbending wrote:
Everyone plays an important role. Except maybe for the sleazy politicians that try and control.
Hey, that rhymed!
[/quote]
Let’s make a song about it.
Everyone plays a role
But the sleazy politicians
that try and control
Maybe its time,
They were in a foxhole
Next to the young men they send…
for their entrails
to mix and blend
With the blood of the poor
and the hearts of this land
but they sit unscathed, by wars cold dead hand
Thanks everybody, I have a better understanding now.
[quote]EdwinBoyette wrote:
You’re asking the wrong question. You should who is best at which mission.
If you have some amphibious ops, I would suggest its probably the SEALS.
If you have a large semi conventional target that is a meat grinder I would suggest the Rangers.
If you have god knows what I would suggest Delta.
If you want to train insurgents or conduct anti-insurgency then probaly Special Forces (Green Berets).
from a numerical standpoint
Theres a lot more Rangers than Green Berete
Theres quite a bit more Green Berets than Seals.
Theres probably a few more seals than Delta.
As a side note by Rangers do you mean a soldier with a Ranger Tab or a Ranger batallion?
If you are training to be very good at strict curls, are you going to go enter a squat competition?
The DOD generally tries to employ units in the mission they are trained or specialized in (emphasis on try).
Does that help at all?
PS Air force also has Para-guys, Marine have Force Recon, and the Coast Guard probably has something or another
PSS Chuck Norris?[/quote]
Best Post to answer the question. HOWEVER the CIA has a para-military force where we take the best of the best from each group, with addition of a seal team only for us. I say us b/c my father used to be the director of Military Affairs at the Agency and I too worked there.
Hey well first of all, the marine corps IS part of the Navy, the mens part!!! just had to put that out there. The marine corps is the smallest of all branchs of military being only 177,000 strong. We also have the smallest budget of them all. We get all the old hand-me-downs from the other branches. I would have to say that any special ops group no matter what branch is tougher than the regualar units.
Im no expert on it so im not gonna say anything about the other branches. Marines have regulaer units and then theres recon and then if you think your badass enough you can try out for force recon, cream of the crop. The indoc just to get your foot in the door for recon is pretty hard. you have to run two back to back 1st class pft’s (physical fitness test) then swim 500 meters.
Then you tread water for 30 minutes. I think you also have to dive to the bottom of the pool and retrive your rifle. then you have to run the length of seal beach and whenever the whistle blows you run out into the ocean until they blow it again then you start running the beach again. Thats the indoc. The you go to basic recon course. You go to jump school (airborne school).
Then you do SERE training. Then they might send you to dive school(same as the seals). After all that you become a recon marine and it just gets harder on from that point. OO-Rah marines and semper fi.
[quote]Young Devil Dog wrote:
Hey well first of all, the marine corps IS part of the Navy, the mens part!!! just had to put that out there.quote]
The USMC aren’t really part of the Navy, they operate as part of the United States Department of the Navy who seperates them into two different services, the US Navy and USMC. The Commandant of the USMC reports to the Secretary of the Navy who is a civilian.
Ok. I just read your original post and no responses. I will respond only to the original question this time. I have two sons who, I fully expect, will in their time be called upon to serve the Nation’s interest. I served in the USMC because I saw it as a challenge as the service which demanded the most and repayed the most in development, discipline, etc.
When my sons ask me about this kind of thing I try to tell them that I believe, that one can honorable serve and be the “best” in other services as well, depending on the nature of the specific MOS/ “job.” Rangers great at what they do, as are Airforce PJ’s, Navy SEAL’s (a friend of mine did this), Army SF and other specific groups of armed men.
It all depends on what specific skill sets you are looking at. There was a guy posting here some time back from Finland who was a frogman there. I have no doubts that he is very good at his job as well.
All these “whose best?” comparisons are useless without context. A while back there was a group of SEALS competing in eco challenge(?) or something similar who didn’t win. So what? they have a different skill set that they are masters of.